You Never Really Forget
by PurpleKangaroo
Summary: A series of odd earthquakes has toppled a certain apartment complex and began a chain of events that're making the spirit and real worlds overlap. Now Chihiro has to deal with a lost friend, a job in a Spirit theatre, unhearthed memories, and a dragonboy.
1. Midnight Stories

All right! I promised myself I wouldn't do this. Swore, even. But no matter how many times I watch Spirited Away, even if I just sit and watch it twice or thrice in a row (which I have done!) I never get tired of it. It's true brilliance, and I told myself I'd never write a fic because I'd never live up to it…but, well, it's just _too good! _And I love Haku so much I can't bear the thought of not finding out what happens with them. So. Here it is, my attempt at this. It might not be very good, and I don't know where it's going, but we're going to give it a shot!

It isn't gunna be angsty. There might be moments, but I don't do angst.

And right now, Chihiro doesn't remember what happened in the Spirit world. Buuut, it's like the movie said. You never _really _forget things…  
**Disclaimer: **Me? Own Spirited Away? In my _dreams! _Greatest movie ever made. Ever. Hats off to Miyazaki! (who also did Howl's Moving Castle! Which is one of my favorite books. Man's a genius, I tell you.)

**You Never Really Forget**

Chapter One

It was raining. The sky was black with clouds, the moon pressing through with just a few glowing beams pushing through the dark cover. It was scary for some, comforting for others, and for one girl, it was simply inspirational as it pounded onto the glass of the small window into her dorm room. She sat with one leg folded under her in a computer chair, biting her lip, face illuminated by the dusty blue glow of the computer screen.

_Click, clickclick, clickity, click, click- _"Aha!"

With a small cry of triumph, the young lady with brown hair pulled the piece of paper off the printer with a laugh, spinning only to stumble over her chair with a startled squeak, ignoring the crash of her books as she accidentally knocked them to the floor. "Finished." She whispered, dropping into her chair with a grin. It was finally done- the next chapter of her manuscript.

On the other side of the small room, another girl groaned and sat up. "Ugh, Chihiro, you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Chihiro looked up from her printed page with a sheepish grin and a faint blush. "Sorry, Miyu. Guess I got over excited."

Her roommate yawned and stretched. "What are you-" yawn "doing so late anyway? It's way past midnight." She shot a suspicious glance out the window and made a face. "And it's raining."

Chihiro smiled and closed her eyes. "I know…I just, I don't know, work better at night. I feel like so much is happening inside my head. These ideas just, y'know, come."

Miyu laughed and put her hands in her lap. "First class basket case, that's what you are, Chihiro. The brilliant insomniac. Most people _sleep _through storms like this." She kicked her heels back and cocked her eyebrows. "_Especially _when they have class tomorrow."

"_Don't _remind me, please." Chihiro said, an uneasy laugh following. All right, so it was odd. But she couldn't help it. Her best ideas for stories came at night, or when it was raining hard like this. Fantastical stories, with spirits and colors, and-

"So, lemme see it. If you're going to crash land and wake me up, I should at least get to see the rough draft, huh?"

"Uh, right…sure. Here you go." A smile pulled again onto Chihiro's face as she handed the page, along with the ones she'd already printed, off to her friend. She tugged nervously on her pajama's as Miyu flopped backwards to scan them. She was always a little nervous when people read her writing. It was just so…personal. Everything in them felt _real _to her, and if people didn't like it..., well…

Miyu groaned. "Chihiro," she whined teasingly. "That's so _corny. _Friendship saved them?" She chuckled and handed the paper back. "But really, it's sweet. The setting, where do you come up with these things?"

Chihiro shrugged with an odd sort of half-grin. "Wish I knew."

"Well, you can't leave it on a cliffhanger like that! Are they going to meet again? You know, the two characters?"

"Well I-" Suddenly, she didn't feel so good. Her stomach didn't feel quite right, like it was doing some funny sort of form of gymnastics.

"No! Don't tell me. I want to read it. But not tonight…class in the morning, remember?" Miyu frowned and leaned forward. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm not…feeling so good."

"Well, go to bed and get some breakfast first thing. Some food and sleep and you'll be fine."

Chihiro blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Huh?"

"…nevermind, thought you said something else, is all." _Funny, _Chihiro thought. _Has this happened before? _No, she was probably just tired, and her story was affecting her head again. She chuckled quietly and laid down on the soft mattress. That was all. Silly manuscript, fiddling with her head. It wasn't as though she was actually _in _it.

Right?

**A/N:** There you go. Just a little intro to it all. Chihiro doesn't remember any of what happened, but it's like what a certain Granny said. And what the title says.


	2. Earthquakes and Boats

**Disclaimer: **le sigh Alas, Spirited Away does not belong to me!

**You Never Really Forget**

Chapter Two

Miyu leaned on her suitcase with a wicked grin. "Chihiro Ogino. Published Author. I knew you'd do it someday, darlin'. And a free trip, room and board to boot? You are my new hero."

Chihiro chuckled and tugged uneasily on her own suitcase. It was true, she was finally getting published. A first year university student- _published! _And here she was getting read to meet her new editor and publisher. Still, she wasn't usually this nervous, it was as though something other than the nerves from meeting her new bosses were making her feel so strange. She ran her fingers over the ponytail holder on her wrist. It was a comforting motion, rather like someone tugging on their skirt or running a hand through their hair. She took a deep calming breath and smiled at her friend. "Mm-hmm. I can't believe it." She laughed quietly and looked up at the building where she'd be staying with her friend. It looked like an apartment complex, which it had been a few years ago, but had recently been converted into a hotel. "I used to come here as a kid. You know? Back before they built these things…"

"You sound angry about it." Miyu said puzzledly, more a question then a statement. Chihiro shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess I just miss it. It was a pretty neat river." That some funny flipflop came in her stomach. What was it?

"Never knew you were an environmentalist."

"I'm not! I just, people shouldn't…y'know…mess with rivers like that."

"Hey, Chihiro? Want to go sightseeing for a bit? I hear there's an old shrine over that hill down there." She motioned down one of the city streets towards a small rise in the area.

"I'm not…feeling much like sightseeing, Miyu. I'll just…take the bags up, you go on ahead, all right?" She needed time to think. Miyu looked at her quizzically and then shrugged, handing off her bag.

"Sure thing."

"Be careful, all right?"

"Cautious as can be." Miyu waved and headed off down the street, and Chihiro went inside the building, up to the fifth floor where her room was. She opened the door with a small smile and put the suitcases down on the bed, moving to look out the window. She heard the rumble of a train in the distance, which caused her to blink rapidly and look around. Where was that coming from? It got louder, and suddenly, the glass in the windows began to rattle. The sound screamed louder. _Not a train! _She thought. _Earthquake!_

The ground lurched underneath her feet, she could see the earth ripple and roll as she was thrust backwards with a crash, her head hitting hard on the wooden post of the bed, and she was out.

"Owch..." Chihiro blinked wearily awake, watching the dim rays of the sun sink slowly into the horizon. Wait- "The sun!" With a gasp, Chihiro lurched forward onto her feet, gasping as she gazed outside. The wall was gone. The entire _street _was gone. Cracks spread through the ground, deep and dark. The buildings were toppled and everywhere people were standing quietly up, dazed and stunned. For a minute, Chihiro stood completely still, hands over her mouth in aghast astonishment. Then she remembered. "_Miyu!" _

The stairs were blocked off by rubble, and there was no way the elevator would function. Not like this. Swallowing hard, Chihiro leaned out the window the hole in the wall and hesitantly swung herself out to climb down the side. The rocks scraped her arms and slid out from under her feet as she tried to put her weight on them. Her breath caught in her throat. _I should go back, I should…they'll be sending rescue teams around soon, I should just wait…_

No way. A sense of sudden urgency rose up in her throat and she swallowed it down and continued her treacherous way down the side of the ruined building. Miyu was out there somewhere, and she had to hurry. Her tennis shoes finally hit the ground and she fell forward with the sudden impact, scrambling quickly to her feet and running through the ruined streets towards where she'd seen Miyu heading.

"Hey! Hey, Miss! You can't go there!"

A hand reached out and grabbed her arm, causing her to turn with a gasp. "But sir, my friend, she's-…I have to!"

"I'm sorry, Miss, we're not letting anyone past. A water main must have broken in the quake, the whole area's flooding. We're getting everyone out. So please, just head on back."

"But sir-"

"_Now,_ Miss."

Chihiro bit her tongue and then nodded. The police officer's gaze softened. "And Miss, you might want to get that arm checked out, that's a might nasty scratch."

"Yessir, thanks sir." Chihiro said abruptly, turning and walking slowly back, slipping behind a large chunk of the rubble. There was just enough light left to see the officer's silhouette as he moved on. Once he had, she darted back forward, whispering a quick, _sorry _to the officer. She had to find Miyu. Just over that hill up there. She climbed over the hill, and her tennis shoes slipped on the wet surface, sending the girl sliding down the hill. "Ayee-oof!"

_Splash!_

Coughing hard, Chihiro spit the salty water out of her mouth, drenched head to toe, water rising rapidly around her wrists and legs as she knelt in the water she'd landed in.  
Water?

_Salt _water?

This wasn't a water main break. It couldn't be. Hadn't these old apartments been built on a river? "The cracks…they must havereached an underground spring or something…" She said dazedly. "This water, it's…"

_Haku, listen! I just remembered something from along time ago, I think it may help you. Once, when I was little , I dropped my shoe into a river. When I tried to get it back I fell in. I thought I'd drown but the water carried me to shore. It finally came back to me, the rivers name was the Kohaku river._

_I think that was you, and your real name is… Kohaku river!_

Haku, no, Kohaku. No-face, Boh, Zeniba, Yubaba, Lin, the foreman, the radish spirit. The bathhouse, the stink spirit, the train-

The sudden press of water against her stomach brought Chihiro out of the whirlwind of memories. It was rising quickly, and her head snapped up in surprise to see…a ferry? "Am I dreaming?" She asked herself breathlessly. She knew that ferry. Or at least, she'd seen one very similar to it, years ago, in an abandoned theme park by her old house. She rubbed her eyes, water swirling around her as she stood up in the rapidly rising river.

It wasn't the same ferry, but she knew it was a ferry for the spirits. And Miyu had probably gotten on it. She had to catch it before it got to the other side. And maybe, maybe if she got there…

Haku would be there, too.

A/N: Eeek! The shortness. The next chapters will be longer, no worries! But I wanted to get this up, and it looked like a good place. Haku-darling will show up in the next chapter. We're pretty much done with Miyu, she probably isn't going to show up again for a long while unless you all want her to (she isn't -dead- or anything, she just isn't going to be involved in the story). If you all have ideas, I love those! If you have critiques, well, live and learn. I like those, too. And suggestions, comments and reviews are all that inspire ickle writers like me to post more! ;) Mwahaha. How's that for shameless bribery?


	3. Overboard

**Disclaimer: **Nope, I still don't own it. Man, don't I wish? ;) For that matter, don't we all?**You Never Really Forget** Chapter Three

Chihiro could feel her heart pounding. The water was black from the night sky as it swirled around her, now to her waist. She put a hand over her eyes, brushing the damp strands of hair that had escaped out of her ponytail out of her face. Her breath came rapidly, and, swallowing hard, she turned to look over her shoulder.

The city was still there.

She could still hear people yelling distantly, but it was getting quieter, drowned out by the angry roar of a river coming to life in the wake of an earthquake. She couldn't see over the small hill, but she knew if she climbed it, her world would still be on that side. It made no sense! She turned back forward, towards the glowing, phantom-esque ferry, as it floated serenely over the chaotically rising water. Past it, she could just see lanterns lighting, as though by some unseen cue. The ferry was getting farther away.

"Now or never," Chihiro whispered breathlessly. "Hang on, Miyu." Taking a slow, deep inhale of air…_ now hold it!_ She dove forward into the rush of water, and felt herself instantly caught in the overpowering rush of the current, foaming and swirling as it hit the sunken buildings and debris the earthquake had left. Gasping, she surfaced, knocked to the side as tall, black lumps rose from the water to solidify as spirits. "Ah-Excuse-" Instinctively, she opened her mouth to apologize, only to fill her mouth with a sharp swallow of the salty water. The surprise of water in her lungs knocked her back under the water, and her arms were too tired pull her back to the surface. She was being pulled in every direction, having not anticipated the strength of the water. It was like being in a storm, waves crashing against fallen walls of collapsed buildings, like someone had opened a floodgate, and the pent up water was going anywhere and everywhere it could. When she wasn't hitting waves, she was bumping into the shapeless spirits who moved calmly through the chaos, rising serenely, eyes forward as though they saw nothing else.

She closed her eyes, trying not to think of the irony of it. She remembered, strong and sudden, the rush of water past her- this very same water? All those years ago, with her pink shoe floating behind her as a dragon carried her to safety

_Oh, Kohaku, where are you now?_  
_  
_No.

That was a defeatist attitude. Hadn't living in the bathhouse taught her that was unacceptable? Chihiro opened her eyes under the water, lifting her head to see the tell-tale glow of lanterns over the surface. The pressure of the water increased and she gasped again, but this time, kicked her way upwards, breaking the surface with a rasping cough. It didn't matter though- the current had carried her right to the ferry! That's why the pressure had increased- it was coming right towards her. _I just have to get there!_ Chihiro thought_. Miyu, they probably have her on board._ She cringed slightly, only hoping they hadn't eaten her. She didn't think there was much room for pigs aboard a spirit ferry.

She strained her arms upward to grasp onto one of the railings of the ferry, the music onboard ringing loud in her ears. And then, suddenly, she felt herself knocked on board by a particularly strong wave. "Ack!" She flipped over the railing, heels over head, stumbling in an awkward roll onto the deck. She quickly scrambled to her feet, whirling and grabbing the rail to stare quickly into the water, eyes straining to see if there was a white dragon moving under the surface. Nothing. Or was it just too dark to tell? "Haku! Oh, Haku, was that you? Are you-"

"HEY! You! On the rail? What are you crazy?"

"Huh, wha?" Chihiro turned, her eyes catching a silvery streak dart through the water beside the rail. She turned back quickly, squinting and leaning forward to see, it _was_ Haku! She knew it! Another wave rocked the ferry and she lost her grip on the rail, stumbling backwards into the froglike spirit that had addressed her only a minute before. Apparently, the ferry wasn't sailing as smoothly as it had looked while she'd been in the water.

"Stupid! Can't you see we're in the middle of a storm? Get back inside…" The spirit sniffed suddenly, suspiciously. Chihiro froze. Right, her scent, how could she have forgotten? The frog leaned forward, snout-like nose even with her face. Chihiro backed up. "…human….HUMAN!" The frog shoved her back into the rail where she hit with a surprised 'oof'. He skittered towards one of the doors, where a string lay dangling next to. He yanked on it hard, and a bell began ringing. "HUMAN! Human on deck! It's another one, _GET IT!" _

Chihiro let out a squeak of surprise. _Think fast, think _fast! _Aha!_ She had a plan."Wait! I'm not a human!"

The frog paused in his ringing to glare at her suspiciously. People were already coming out of doors, rushing this way and that. "I smelled it!" The frog cried, launching himself at her. Chihiro cried out and dived to the side, out of the way.

"Nono! It's true! I just…I just smell like the other one because I, I ran into her during…before…" He'd said 'another one', that meant she'd been right. Miyu had wound up on this ferry. Now where was she now? The frog's eyes narrowed, and Chihiro stifled a giggle. She knew she shouldn't laugh at a time like this, but the frog's eyes were so huge, when they narrowed, he looked so funny!

The frog was not amused. He sniffed once more. "Prove it."

Chihiro froze for a minute. _How? _How was she supposed to prove she was a spirit! Nothing she could do, nothing she had-wait. Her hands flew to her ponytail, tugging the pony tail holder that held it together. "Here! Look!" She held up the sparkling band, and it glowed quietly in the pale light of the lanterns. For a minute, even the raging water stilled, just long enough for the frog spirit to wonder if she was telling the truth or not. Then he took a step forward, snatched it out of her hand and brought it up close to his eyes.

"Hm…it looks real enough." He muttered, glaring at her, and finally nodding his approval. Chihiro let out a shaky breath and reached her hand out to take the band back. The frog offered it with a sniff, only to drop it as the water suddenly screamed back to life, knocking the ferry violently to the side. Chihiro felt her side slam into one of the walls opposite the rail, the frog spirit tumbling down the deck to do the same. "Ah!" The girl scrambled to her feet, gripping tightly on the wall to keep from losing her balance on the slippery wood. She looked around frantically for her ponytail holder- she didn't want to lose it, it was so nearly the only thing she had to remember…there it was! She ran near the rail, nearly losing her balance as the ferry heaved and dipped atop of the angry water. She reached her hand for the gift that had been given to her so many years ago-

And felt herself heaved over the railing as the ferry crashed into another major wave. She didn't have time to hold her breathe this time as she was plunged back into the stormy river, and her last thought before fainting was that she hoped Miyu had found her own Kohaku to help her, because it didn't like she'd be able to help. She didn't feel herself lifted, and carried gently through the waters that were anything but. She didn't hear the roar of the river around her, nor the voice that told her not to be afraid, just as it had told her years ago.

But she would.

---------------/

Chihiro woke up feeling like a drowned rat who'd been trampled by an elephant. She opened her eyes blearily to stare up at a cloud-filled sky. _Funny. There should be a ceiling there _was her first thought. Her second was to wonder why there _wasn't _one, and her third was to realize just _why _there was no ceiling there. With a gasp (that quickly turned into a coughing fit), Chihiro jolted upright, feeling the horrible ache in her arm from climbing out of the demolished building and the thick dampness of her tired lungs from being underwater so long.

"Easy, there. Calm down." A soothing voice reached her ears, hands catching her as she moved upright, pulling her hair back as she coughed.

If anything, Chihiro started coughing harder, so surprised to hear a voice she knew so well- _oh mercy did she know it well! _She turned to stare at her companion with wide eyes. Solemn, steely cat-colored eyes met hers steadily and Chihiro stopped thinking for a minute and just flung her arms around the boy, knocking them both back down. "HAKU! Haku- I knew it, I knew as soon- when I, when the water was salty I knew it was you. You got me on the ferry, didn't you? You-…" Chihiro stopped, remembering just _why _it had been so imperative she get on that ferry. _Oh, Miyu…_

She didn't have time to stay on that train of thought, though, because she found herself shoved back to her seating position quite abruptly, to find those same, familiar eyes glowering at her. "You are mistaken." The voice that had been soothing a minute ago was icy and abrupt- dismissive. "You washed up in the middle of last night. I happened to come upon you here." He stood up, and Chihiro saw he was taller than she remembered. In fact, he looked quite the same as he used to, age hadn't changed much. She _knew _it was him. So what was going on? Was he under another spell? Or did he just not remember her?

"Haku," She said slowly. "Are you…has Yubaba got control of you again?"

The answer she got was a derisive scowl and a shake of the head as though the idea were beyond preposterous. He turned around, not even offering her a hand to stand up, instead pointing to his left. Chihiro looked around. Now that she was awake, she could see she was sitting on the bank of a river- a river that was considerably calmer than it had been last night. Turning away from the river, she followed Haku's hand to realize the bank she was perched on was also at the bottom of a tall cliff. He was pointing upwards, and she could see smoke  
.  
"The ferry you're looking for came in last night. It's docked up there." He gave an easy wave of his hand and shrugged.

Chihiro rose to her feet and clasped his hand firmly in his. "Thank you, Haku. For saving me and for telling me." She said urgently. "I have to go save Miyu, but, I promise! As soon as I get her free I'm coming back and knocking you out of whatever spell you're under! I'll get you free again, Haku, I promise." Then she turned and sprinted in the direction he'd pointed, up towards the smoke, which she could now see was coming from a small town. It was only half-way up that she felt her heart tighten and ache as much as her lungs had when she woke up. She wanted to run back and see if Haku was really there, if it was really him. But she was scared, and she knew it.

The boy she'd left behind watched her sprint off with a wide grin. _She hasn't changed. _He thought with a shake of his head. _I'm sorry to do this to you, Chihiro. This world…it's give and take. _He took a step back into the water, feeling it caress his ankle for the second it took to him to shift into his dragon form, diving under the surface to observe the wreckage of the human city that was sunken underneath the now-quiet waters. _And right now, this world is taking too much.  
_

_**A/N:** There you go. I don't like how this chapter turned out._


	4. Captain of the Guard

**Disclaimer: **Spirited Away still isn't mine, neither are the characters in it.

**You Never Really Forget  
**Chapter 4

It was still night. The sky was still dark. Chihiro knew that shouldn't be right, the sun should have come up by now, but all she could see overhead were glistening ribbons of light-filled skies, shifting and rearranging uncomfortably as though the stars themselves weren't sure where they were supposed to be hanging, and kept changing their minds.

Chihiro didn't notice them for awhile, aware only of the lights in the distant town as her feet hit the well packed dirt road, slapping loudly when they hit a patch of mud. She knew she'd been running longer than she should have been, her breath hurt and her side was beginning to pull painfully. It wasn't that she was out of shape- on the contrary, she was quite a runner in her own time. Ever since she was a child, she'd felt a vague restlessness when she was unoccupied, a quiet unease in inactivity. So she'd started running. Finally, she reached the gate of the town and stopped outside, bracing her hands on her knees as she gasped heavily, the sound of her breath echoing quietly back to her ears from the walls.

_My mouth…tastes like salt_. She tried summon enough water to spit, but found she was bone dry. _Must…have been the river. _A thought occurred and she laughed breathlessly between her gasps for air. _That's one way to eat spirit food without turning into a pig. It's in my system all right…but no way am I going to gorge on a buffet of salt alone._ She lifted her head finally, damp with perspiration, and finally noticed the moving stars.

It made her dizzy, to look at them, swirling and shifting and overlapping, ribbons of transparent color weaving in and out and vanishing like imaginary snakes.

Chihiro felt her stomach heave, and tore her gaze away from the sky, putting a hand on the edge of the wide, open gate to the town. The town was strung with lanterns, their lights mercifully still but for the occasional, slight sway. The distinct sound of food and grease being thrown on a hot surface began to filter to her ears, quiet, whispery voices and low, deep drums. Faint, bird-like chimes and windy instruments finally sounded louder than the sounds of her own breathing.

She let out what would have been a squeak of surprise as a bowl was suddenly shoved in her face where she not so hoarse. "Oh-um-sorry, I-" Her eyes followed the up the arm of the one holding the bowl up to the face. Not a frog. Not a slug. What then? Raccoon, perhaps. His eyes were dark around the rims, ears and top of his head hidden under a large, wide, official-looking hat. His hands, Chihiro realized, were paws.

"No need to be sorry. Never seen anyone make it to the top of this hill so fast. Take it, you look like you need it." He offered the bowl again, and Chihiro straightened at last, taking it. In a few greedy gulps, there was only a little left. The taste of salt lingered, but the nausea faded. She quickly rubbed the remaining water on her forehead, sighing as the night air cooled it quickly.

"Thank you," She said, clapping her hands and bowing her hands, bowl in hand. "Would you like me to wash it and return it to you, sir? Or-" Chihiro trailed off, unsure of what the proper way to thank him for the gift was.

The raccoon chuckled. "Oh, you've paid for it well enough over, we had a bet you'd pass out before you made it up here." He winked, and motioned to a few other raccoon-like spirits in similar hats looking appropriately dismayed, but congenial about their loss. "You just won me two tickets to the _kaijou_ theatre in town tomorrow tonight."

"_Kaijou _theatre?"

The raccoon nodded and turned, pointing inside the gate of the town, past the stalls of restaurants and vendors, lit with paper lanterns, to a huge structure far out on a small but distinct hill, It looked, Chihiro thought privately, like a king on a throne, looking over a kingdom of dollhouses. Layers and layers, the massive building dominated the rest of the town, glowing like a beacon from the many strings of swaying, colored light that adorned it.

"That's it, over there. Center of the town," The raccoon said with pride, chest puffing outward. "Everyone comes to town to see it. Everyone. Well, everyone who can afford it. We get ferries filled with visitors from every corner of this world, just with people who want to attend a show." Chihiro listened, but she was so exhausted from her run that she, admittedly, wasn't quite absorbing all the information he gave her. He didn't seem to notice, continuing on. "Well then,…" The raccoon paused, clearly waiting for her to give her a name.

Chihiro licked her lips once, hesitantly. They were cracked, and still slightly salty. It stung, a little. She felt suddenly ashamed of her hesitation- it was one thing to worry about giving out her name in the Spirit World, another entirely to rudely ignore someone who'd just helped her. "Chihiro. Ogino Chihiro."

The raccoon didn't seem to notice her hesitation. "Dai." He responded, giving his name. "Captain of the guard. Well then, Chihiro, welcome to town."

"Ah, thank you." Chihiro nodded deeply to show her honest gratitude and turned to enter the town. _Ferries, all the time. _She paused, turning back just as Dai, too, was turning to return to his post. "Pardon, do you know, have there been…" She tried to form a question, Dai waited patiently. Chihiro swallowed and then spit it out. "Have there been any weird earthquakes around here lately?"

Dai's hand suddenly went to the side of his official uniform, eyes narrowing suddenly and suspiciously. He blew a whistle shrilly and the other raccoon guards were suddenly alert and running toward her. More were coming from around the outer corners of the gate. Chihiro had the sudden, sinking feeling she'd just made a big mistake. Dai yelled something and pointed to Chihiro and started toward her.

She turned on her heel and bolted just as his hand reached out after her and closed in on empty space. Her legs were tired and ached painfully, but she forced them to move faster, running into the town, ducking and dodging patrons and lanterns, with Dai and the others yelling and running after her.

Her chest quickly started to hurt, and she felt her bones jarring every time her foot hit the ground. Angry yells, Dai's shrill whistle and deep, deep drums of the tone. She took a misstep and tumbled forward, crashing into a white tunic and the person wearing it, who instinctively reached their arms around her.

And all she could hear was the roar of the wind.

**A/N:** I'm not very good with Japanese. I don't know any Japanese. At all. So I apologize if my translations are incorrect.

_Kaijou: _I read somewhere that this means 'of the sea' and also 'stage'. Would have fit better if it were 'of the river' but I thought it was close enough!

I know what you all are thinking. Where's Haku? Well, he _is _actually in this chapter. I'll be completely honest with you, I still haven't decided how to fully incorporate him into the next few chapters. I don't want to make it easy for the pair of them! Any ideas? I may or may not use them, but they may help me reach as decision.


End file.
